Executive Summary

The Frontend File Manager Plugin up to version 23.6 has a vulnerability that allows authenticated users with author-level access or higher to delete arbitrary posts and pages without proper ownership verification.

This happens because the plugin does not check if the user actually owns the posts they want to delete. An attacker with author access can send a specially crafted request to bypass this check and permanently delete posts belonging to other users.

Additionally, if the plugin's "Allow guest uploads" setting is enabled by an administrator, unauthenticated users can also exploit this vulnerability to delete posts.

Useful 0 Not Useful 0

Impact Analysis

This vulnerability can lead to unauthorized permanent deletion of posts and pages on a WordPress site using the Frontend File Manager Plugin up to version 23.6.

• Authenticated users with author-level access or higher can delete posts they do not own.
• If the "Allow guest uploads" setting is enabled, even unauthenticated users can delete posts.

Such unauthorized deletions can result in data loss, disruption of website content, and potential damage to the site's integrity and reputation.

Useful 0 Not Useful 0

Detection Guidance

This vulnerability can be detected by monitoring for suspicious deletion requests targeting posts or pages, especially those coming from authenticated users with author-level access or higher, or from unauthenticated users if the "Allow guest uploads" setting is enabled.

Specifically, detection involves looking for crafted requests that include parameters such as a valid nonce, a legitimate post ID in the `file_id` parameter, and additional victim post IDs in the `file_ids[]` array.

Network or system administrators can use web server access logs or application logs to identify such suspicious requests.

While no explicit commands are provided, administrators can use tools like grep or similar log analysis commands to search for unusual POST requests to the plugin's deletion endpoints containing these parameters.

Useful 0 Not Useful 0

Mitigation Strategies

Immediate mitigation steps include disabling the "Allow guest uploads" setting in the Frontend File Manager Plugin to prevent unauthenticated users from exploiting the vulnerability.

Additionally, restrict author-level user permissions to minimize the risk of authenticated users abusing the deletion functionality.

Since there is no known fix for this issue as of the latest update, monitoring and restricting access are critical.

Consider implementing additional logging and alerting on deletion actions to quickly detect and respond to suspicious activity.

Useful 0 Not Useful 0

Compliance Impact

This vulnerability allows authenticated users with author-level access or higher, and potentially unauthenticated users if the "Allow guest uploads" setting is enabled, to permanently delete arbitrary posts and pages without proper ownership verification.

Such unauthorized deletion of data could lead to non-compliance with data protection regulations like GDPR and HIPAA, which require proper controls over data integrity, access, and deletion.

Specifically, the inability to verify ownership before deletion represents a security misconfiguration (OWASP A6), potentially violating principles of data protection and accountability mandated by these standards.

Useful 0 Not Useful 0